British Passport application processing timelines (only)

[sameeer]

Phew ... mine all done ... now gearing up to tackle the same route for my spouse ....

[sameeer]

Application Timeline
Passport for: Adult
Application Type: First adult passport after naturalisation .
Method of application: Postal Special Delivery (Self)
Date of application: 07th October 2013
Date application received by IPS: 08th October 2013 (Royal mail tracking)
Date Fees deducted: 08th October 2013
Date application acknowledged by IPS: 09th October 2013(SMS)
Date of interview letter: 10th October 2013 Received on 12th October 2013
Date of return of documents: 15th October 2013
Date of Passport Appointment: 19th October 2013
Date of Passport receipt: 21st October 2013 Printed on 19th October 2013

[akg1]

Passport for: Minor
Application Type: New
Method of application: Check & Send
Date of application: 22/10/2013
Date application received by IPS: 24/10/2013
Date of return of documents:
Date of receipt of interview letter:NA
Date of Passport Appointment: NA
Date of Passport Receipt:

[jogeg]

Application Type :First Adult Passport for me, spouse and also 2 children
Method of Application: Royalmail Special Delivery. Did not see any value added by post office check and send
Date of Application: 25-09
Date of Reciept by IPS:26-09 Tracked on Royalmail website.
Date Application Acknowledged by IPS: 27-09
Date of Return Documents: 11-10
Date of Receipt of Interview Letter : 12-10
Date of Passport Interview Appointment: 19-10 Got offered earlier date but preferred saturday.
Date of Passport Receipt: 22-10 Passport was dropped through the letterbox. (Passports printed on the 19th)

We are finally at the end of the immigration road, came into the UK as student 10 years ago and went on to HSMP. Thanks to all who contribute on here as it is such a rich source of information.

Good luck to all who are still on the journey. God is definitely definitely good.

[PontyGuy]

Application Type :First Adult Passport
Method of Application: Post Office Check and Send
Date of Application: 21.10.2013
Date Application Acknowledged by IPS: 23.10.2013
Date of Return Documents: TBC
Date of Receipt of Interview Letter : TBC
Date of Passport Interview Appointment: TBC
Date of Passport Receipt: TBC

[Derivaz]

Interview went well, very relaxed casual chat...
they do ask funny questions...so it may seem to us but they cannot be fooled..

Get it done...

Yeah, I don't mind the questions, better than having my identity stolen; I just think that taking people's finger prints would be more effective, but other than that, it's fine.

Yeah, I'll get it done; this is just a passport application; it shouldn't be a big deal

[neoseal]

Interview went well, very relaxed casual chat...
they do ask funny questions...so it may seem to us but they cannot be fooled..

Get it done...

[Derivaz]

Congrats Derivaz, good to know no mistakes.

You can wait until January for your passport as it does not make any difference to you, but then I would say just get it done now itself while you are in the citizenship spirit, also then you can tuck away the citizenship certificate safely. It just takes a week to get an interview now a days, as you know I had mine today, and the lady said that they are not busy at all.

Yeah, I'll do that; I kinda wanted to get it right away to travel on my new passport, but the passport office people confirmed that I won't have any problem entering the UK on another EU passport; so I can test my new passport on my next holiday

How did your interview go? they seem to ask funny questions haha

[rajapatel]

Application type: Passport
Method of Application: check & send
Date of application:12/10/13
Date of application acknowledged by IPS:
Date of return of documents: 21/10/13
Date of interview Letter: TBC
Date of passport interview appointment: TBC
date of passport received :TBC

[neoseal]

I had my passport interview today. She started with cursing the weather today...with general chat about the road conditions, she went to drop husband to work today morning and got stuck in traffic so didn't get time for breakfast and ended up munching up salted peanuts she had in car as breakfast...so on...
Then casually she informed that this is informal and nothing to worry about, we are not here to catch you out and I don't have access to your application or credit or crime report, this is just to protect you from identity fraud and also for us to ensure we are sending the passport to the right person. She said that she will take notes as it will then help her write the report. It was like chatting with an intelligent nosy friend

She started with usual security questions
Name, DOB, Address
Spell full name so as to confirm the spelling that will appear on the passport.
She confirmed DOB again...
Do you own your home or rent....
Describe the locality we leave in....
Who else lives with you
Which school children go to
How far is the school.
Did you drive.
How much time it took.
Where do you work.
How long have you been working with same company.
What do you do.
Describe your route to work from home.
Who is your line manager.
Describe the people you work with.
When did you come to UK
For what reasons you came to UK
What all places you lived in UK
How many bank accounts do you have
Do you have mortgage, who with
What was previous address.
Why did you choose this center for interview.
Do you have any plans to go once you get passport.
Can you still use your country's passport.
Few question related to dual nationality.
When and where did you have citizenship ceremony.
Was it public or private.
How many people were there in ceremony.
What nationalities were they? This was bit odd, I replied we were no told nationalities, she replied it would be good to know.

There were quite a few other questions along the lines of the above.....the interview was about 20-25 minutes long, I think the lady had all the time in the world as no one else to interview.

The interview is not structured, they like to jump the topic and come back, kind of weaving spider web...I think to make out if your answers are consistent...

Finally asked to sign on electronic pad and was told passport will be sent in 3 days.

Good luck to everyone.

[neoseal]

Using post office check and send is a matter of preference. As such it does not make any difference, the things they check is the details you filled on form matches your current passport and name and number on citizenship certificate, if your referee has filled form correctly and signed a photo, and if the photo meet their criteria. All these thing you can check yourself as well, which I did, and still used check & send, don't know why.....

The advantage of check & send is that if passport office request any further documentation or asks to resubmit the photos or application etc, then post office will send it again for free provided it is within one month. But then with only two documents required nothing much to go wrong.

Someone here who used check & send and the application got lost by Royal Mail.

Nothing can be certain.

[neoseal]

Congrats Derivaz, good to know no mistakes.

You can wait until January for your passport as it does not make any difference to you, but then I would say just get it done now itself while you are in the citizenship spirit, also then you can tuck away the citizenship certificate safely. It just takes a week to get an interview now a days, as you know I had mine today, and the lady said that they are not busy at all.

[Derivaz]

Very true Ayyubi, it even costs more.

Derivaz, good luck for your ceremony.

I got my certificate today; it looks correct; it was the surname and then the name (spelt right) and the council told me that's the normal format; so it looks like it's over.

I asked about the passport and they told me to apply in January if I'm going on holidays in December, just in case it doesn't arrive in time; they told me that I don't need it anyway, with another EU passport I can travel to more or less the same places as with the UK one; and I can prove my citizenship with the certificate, so they told me, it's up to me.. I'll get it though, but in January; it seems like the worst part is over

[Derivaz]

...
How can it be faster? They do nothing apart from putting everything in a plastic envelope and send it to HMPO.

Most PO's wait 2-3 days so they have a few applications together to send. It is safer, cheaper and quicker sending the application by special delivery straight to HMPO.

That's what I thought also however I saw below on the website;

Using Check & Send is usually faster than posting your own application. Her Majesty’s Passport Office may still need to contact either you or your countersignatory to check details.

it doesn't cost much anyway, does it? isn't it like a tenner?

[cordelio]

...
How can it be faster? They do nothing apart from putting everything in a plastic envelope and send it to HMPO.

Most PO's wait 2-3 days so they have a few applications together to send. It is safer, cheaper and quicker sending the application by special delivery straight to HMPO.

That's what I thought also however I saw below on the website;

Using Check & Send is usually faster than posting your own application. Her Majesty’s Passport Office may still need to contact either you or your countersignatory to check details.

[Derivaz]

What check? That you have written your name on the form? What advice can they give you?

There exists no advice that they can give you.

For first passport after naturalisation the only documents that are required are uncancelled passport and naturalisation certificate. Apart from this, they cannot bring up some secret "advice" to offer to their customers.

How can it be faster? They do nothing apart from putting everything in a plastic envelope and send it to HMPO.

Most PO's wait 2-3 days so they have a few applications together to send. It is safer, cheaper and quicker sending the application by special delivery straight to HMPO.

Advice on the documents to send and how to fill in the form; but it's pretty basic stuff; so probably doesn't make a big difference.

I think that if you are relatively careful checking your stuff, it's probably the same thing, no difference.

[helen12]

Application Type :First Adult Passport
Method of Application: NO Help of post office, sent by recorded delivery
Date of Application: 17.10.2013
Date Monies take by IPS: 21.10.2013
Date of Return Documents: TBC
Date of Receipt of Interview Letter : TBC
Date of Passport Interview Appointment: TBC
Date of Passport Receipt: TBC

[Ayyubi72]

What check? That you have written your name on the form? What advice can they give you?

There exists no advice that they can give you.

For first passport after naturalisation the only documents that are required are uncancelled passport and naturalisation certificate. Apart from this, they cannot bring up some secret "advice" to offer to their customers.

How can it be faster? They do nothing apart from putting everything in a plastic envelope and send it to HMPO.

Most PO's wait 2-3 days so they have a few applications together to send. It is safer, cheaper and quicker sending the application by special delivery straight to HMPO.

[Derivaz]

I wonder why people are obsessed with post office check and send.

For first time applicants, it serves no purpose whatsoever, costs money and is slower than sending application by special delivery.

If post office check and send was like NCS that they copied all the originals to be sent with application then it was worth it. But for first time applicants, all they do is, put all the documents in a pastic bag and send it all to HMPO.

Don't they check your application and give you advice? although, it's a pretty simple application.

I thought it would be faster?

[Ayyubi72]

I wonder why people are obsessed with post office check and send.

For first time applicants, it serves no purpose whatsoever, costs money and is slower than sending application by special delivery.

If post office check and send was like NCS that they copied all the originals to be sent with application then it was worth it. But for first time applicants, all they do is, put all the documents in a pastic bag and send it all to HMPO.

[Derivaz]

Very true Ayyubi, it even costs more.

Derivaz, good luck for your ceremony.

Cheers; thats the main thing; if my certificate is ok, the rest is not a big deal

[neoseal]

Very true Ayyubi, it even costs more.

Derivaz, good luck for your ceremony.

[Derivaz]

Forget about right of abode sticker. No point to it. Takes longer than the passport. Plus right of abode sticker is useless for travelling around europe or anywhere else in the world for that matter.

I don't think a sticker on my current passport would make any difference; I have a EU passport, which allows me to travel more or less in the same places as an UK passport.

I just want to have a UK passport, because I live here and I'm going to be a citizen, so it makes sense; I'll defo get the passport in January

[Ayyubi72]

Forget about right of abode sticker. No point to it. Takes longer than the passport. Plus right of abode sticker is useless for travelling around europe or anywhere else in the world for that matter.

[Derivaz]

I don't think it will be that long, you have ample of time, if you can't get interview dates in nearby office at the most you will need to travel to get earlier dates.

Anyway as EU you can travel on your current passport so you may not want to apply for a passport at all but just to have right of abode sticker in your current passport.

yeah, thats the thing, i might have to travel to another city for an interview or take more days off; whereas, if i go in january; i can just book the first saturday available, without hassle

Right of abode? what's that exactly?

I don't need a UK passport, no; but I'll apply anyway; I'd like to have it; so as soon as I come back in January (providing there are no issues with my certificate) I'll apply

good luck with your interview